BREAK POINT - chris sturniolo

CHAPTER 6

With a grunt, Charlotte sends a bullet right down the line. I return it in the nick of time, sending it just over the net. She can't reach it in time. My point. 

"Come on, brother!" I giggle, taunting her. Her next serve wizzes right by me and I smile with pride, camouflaging the minor sting on my ego. 

"15 all." I call out, prepping myself for her next serve. 

"Hey, Charlotte!" Sarah Grace calls from the side lines. I have to squint to shield my eyes from the offensive hot pink tennis dress she had on. We look to each other in shock, not expecting her to engage with us at all. 

"This ought to be good." Charlotte mutters, meeting me at the net. 

"Is that your car?" She asks innocently. Just then, a tow truck drags Charlotte's White Mercedes out of the parking lot and down the street.

"What the fuck." She yells, running over to the parking lot. 

"Don't be mad at me." Sarah Grace raises her hands in defense. 

"Not everything is about you," I mutter, running up to Charlotte's side. When I get a glimpse of her face, she's giggling. 

"Are you... laughing?" I ask. As an unimaginably type-A person, I figure this would be my last reaction if I was her. 

"What did I even do? They literally took my car." She says between breaths.

"Are you about to like, break down crying right now?" I say, fearing the answer.

"No," she shakes her head, still chuckling. "It's just really funny for some reason. Like my car is gone."

"Okay... Well we need to find a way home." I point out. 

"I can give you guys a ride." Sarah Grace offers. I didn't realize she hadn't walked away yet. 

"That'll have to do." Charlotte whispers to me, just out of ear shot of the other girl. 

+

No one can say Charlotte isn't a loyal friend, but the fact still remains that Charlotte and Sarah Grace still have a little bit of civility between them.

"You can just take us to the Shack." I pipe up from the backseat, raising my voice to be heard over her music. Figures she'd be a Faye Webster type. 

"You know... I was thinking maybe we could stop and get some food? Like old times!" I could tell she was smiling by the way her eyes crinkled up as they met mine in the rear view mirror. 

Charlotte turned around to face me. "I could eat." She admits. 

What the fuck is happening. What planet am I on today.

"I think just to the Shack is fine." I say plainly. 

"Yeah, cool, okay. To the Shack." Sarah Grace says in what's almost a whisper, taking her sunglasses off her head to shade her eyes.

I'm confused

I send a quick text to Charlotte, but she doesn't seem to notice the buzz of the notification. As we drive through the winding west LA streets, I attempt to catch her eye in the mirror, but she's too lost in thought. 

"You wouldn't mind if..." Sarah Grace starts as we pull up to the Shack, and I brace for what I know is coming next. "Well, if I just came inside for a second, would you?" 

Charlotte turned to me with a look that said "we might as well." I gave in quickly, but the anxiety in my chest caused by whatever this girl is concocting is becoming hard to ignore.